Abdundunt Blessings

Things are getting better each day since the fire on November 21^st. So many good things have come from the fire and the support and love from the community locally, from Karoi, Chinhoyi and throughout the country, the government and internationally have been overwhelming to us.  We are humbled and thankful.

We had the electricians arrive on Saturday last week and put most of the hospital back on line.  Some of the wards and our AIDS Education wing need totally new wiring, so they are not yet back on line, but the rest of the hospital is.  They also put us back on line with the solar so we are back to 24/7 power at the hospital.  We are thankful to Gerald Khosa, our solar installer, who sent his electrician out and people from Chinhoyi ZESA to do this.  By Saturday afternoon we had power going to all the hospital where it was possible.   Tuesday we moved all the fridges and freezers back to the hospital that we have been keeping in our homes since we had no power at the hospital, since the fire.

Saturday we also had a visit from the Lion’s Club in Karoi who brought out plates, cups, a big cooking pot and ½ ton of maize.  They got this together in just 3 days from their local club in Karoi and so now we have enough plates to start feeding our hospital.  We are so thankful for their support.

Monday opened with a full OPD and so patients are starting to come back.  Some of the patients we sent to Karoi District Hospital when we closed due to the fire have checked themselves out and returned to us.  So by Tuesday we had 25 in-patients and a full maternity ward!  We had 8 deliveries on Monday.

Although people still try to use the fire as an excuse (I’m late for my ART meds because I heard you closed the hospital—when really they were in Harare, or I didn’t know I was on duty today because the schedule burnt—we have others in areas that didn’t burn!) we continue to give services as best as we can.

Tuesday, one of our nurses, Mrs. Bennie Nyamaharo, gave us 12 new cups and a big dish to help the kitchen as a donation from her!  How exciting this is to see even our own staff wanting to help to get the hospital back and functioning at full capacity as soon as possible.  Most nurses would say “I’m glad for the break and less work for me if the hospital can’t admit,” but even our nurses are anxious to help our patients!  We are so thankful for this attitude.

Tuesday a team from Chinhoyi and Karoi Public works showed up to assess the buildings as part of the government plan to rebuild.  We are so thankful this is going ahead!

Wednesday our satellite internet company came and got us back on line at the hospital.  Some of the wires in the ceiling had been burnt and the expanded wireless we put in was destroyed so we need to replace that still.  We have had to run home for the last 2 weeks to send an email or look for responses, so this will be a big help.  A and get ll our Lab and Histology results come by email so it was a constant struggle to check them printed out.

We received word today that IDES, a disaster relief organization of our churches in the USA granted us $25,000 to help us get going again.  We are so thankful for this generosity!  We are already working on list of how to spend it.

This morning a group of 3 women from one of our areas where we built a school with our UK Rural Schools program, walked over 40 kms (25 miles) to bring 101 plates, 2 servicing spoons and 13 cups to replace what we had lost in the fire!  The gift came from the church we started in the area, Mukowe, and also from others in the area that don’t come to church but just wanted to help!  We have just been overwhelmed with the generosity everyone is showing to us.  God is good!  As they told us “this is our hospital and we felt the need to help.”  We PTL that people see this as their hospital.

Since there has been a little bit more “free time” between patients I have Major’s kids home for the holidays, Nancy, Carolyn and Michael, helping me unpack the rest of the drums from our last container.  They put like things together and then I tell them which department to take things too.  We have spent 3 days and have almost finished.  We received a lot of very valuable equipment.  Yesterday Dr. Kajese was so excited when we found 25 laryngoscope blades and handles when we were saying we needed to buy more!  Now we have enough to even share with other hospitals!  Thank you for all our friends who collect and send these supplies to us.  We have drums of gauze and tape and Foleys and bags—all so needed here and it saves us a lot of money in buying these needed supplies and we can give these things to our patients free of charge!  I also put them to work helping with month end reports!

Article in the national newspaper

 

Lions Club Presentation

 

Group from Lions club presenting to Dr. Kajese

Ladies from Mukowe with their donations

 

 

 

Bennie Nyamaharo presenting her gift to Dr. Kajese

 

Nancy, Carolyn and Michael working on month end reports

Mukowe ladies presenting their gifts

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Today the Minister of Health, Dr. Pariranyetwa and Dr. Chombo the Minister of Local Government and   National Housing and Public Works arrived by helicopter with our Minister of Parliament, Dr. Gandawa and several top government officials from the Ministry of Health.  They discussed with us what happened and pledged their total support to rebuild the buildings destroyed and have people here quickly to assess if the buildings can be saved at all or new buildings have to built and how.  They promised that something would get started and accomplished this year, not waiting until 2014! How exciting is that?

We gave officials a tour of the fire damaged buildings as well as a tour of the hospital.  We only had 5 patients admitted and 3 in Maternity and one in Labor.  We had a busier outpatient today and Antenatal Clinic as well as our ART and TB patients for refills, so it was quite busy today.  Slowly we are building up patients.

The top medical officers from our Provincial Medical Office and District Hospital and the Medical Superintendent of our Provincial Hospital in Chinhoyi came also.  Chinhoyi Hospital also brought blankets, sheets, pillows and boxes of medicine and supplies including some serving dishes for the hospital.  We were so thankful for these donations and have put them into use already.

The Lions Club from Karoi sent people yesterday to see the damage and take pictures and have promised to bring plates and cups and food for our kitchen by the weekend and have applied for an International grant to help also. We are so thankful for their care and concern for our hospital and patients.

We are so thankful to so many people who have quickly responded to our needs.  God has blessed us beyond our imagination since last week on Thursday morning when we saw the flames coming out of the kitchen, laundry and drug storeroom. We were just focusing on the loss and not how much God was going to provide for us.

We are so thankful to the government who has recognized our dedication to provide good quality health care to all people in Zimbabwe we serve daily and the need to quickly get us up and working fully as soon as possible.  Each day we see some progress in getting back to full capacity.  Even though it has been nice to have a bit of a break from so many patients we see each day, we are anxious to get back to work, and our community is ready for us too!

We are so thankful for the people throughout the world who have responded to our needs.   So many people have called and written to express their sorrow and sympathies and to pledge their help.  We are so touched by all of this.  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the US, a day we remember all we are thankful for.  We are thankful to the government of Zimbabwe and their promised help, and to so many who have donated and are asking others to donate.  It has been so overwhelming to all of us.  You have made our Thanksgiving Day a special one this year. Thank You to all of you!

Dr. Chombo and Dr. Pariranyetwa

Touring the fire damage

Dr. Pariranyetwa speaking at the hospital

MP Gandawa on left, Dr. Chombo and Dr. Kajese on right

Dr. Pariranyetwa with me

 

 

 

 

Fire strikes Chidamoyo Hospital

At 0230 on the morning of 21-November-2013 the guards at the hospital saw flames coming out of the locked kitchen at Chidamoyo Christian Hospital.  Immediately the Administrator and all people on the mission were alerted and came to the hospital to help.

15 fire extinguishers were used to try and stop the spread of the fire but it quickly spread to the laundry on one side and the drug storeroom on the other side.  While Major was using the fire extinguishers on the kitchen door part of the ceiling fell in and hit him on the side of the face and spun him around.  In the smoke he was disoriented and flames were on 2 sides of him.  The driver of the construction company came up and pulled him out!  He went on to continue fighting the fire for 4 more hours!

The community as well as the Construction crew from Harare working on upgrading our Waiting Mother shelters jumped into action and came with buckets of water, ladders, picks, shovels and axes to try and contain the fire. Amazingly this fire which destroyed three buildings was stopped with only buckets of water!  This was really God’s power.  People were running to boreholes when we exhausted all the water from our tanks and the driver went and filled barrels in my swimming pool!  We never ran out of water—another miracle for Chidamoyo.

When the fire began to approach the Administration block people quickly evacuated drugs, furniture and equipment from the Administration block.  On Friday we actually found out that the tresses above my office, Major’s office and the linen room had been burnt.  How it was stopped by itself without falling into the ceiling and starting that wing on fire is only through the hand of God!

The extent of the damage of the fire is the total loss of the kitchen and all equipment inside and provisions, the laundry with blankets, sheets, patient gowns, a washing machine and a roller/ironing machine, and a drug storeroom that had a large amount of drugs and supplies, as well as the chaplain’s office.

We immediately moved all patients to the road outside the hospital when the fire began and the nurses did an excellent job caring for them and getting them transferred safely.  When it was light and the fire was under control we moved the patients to the outside veranda of our OPD and Maternity Departments.  We quickly assessed the patients and sent 18 patients to Karoi District Hospital.  Their ambulance came and took the 3 most critical patients and then their lorry took the rest of the patients.  We were able to discharge 26 patients home for review at a later date and we kept 5 patients who are not serious and will be going home very soon.

We are unable to operate our inpatient department as we have limited resources to cook and provide linen for patients as well as our drug supplies are mostly gone.  We have instructed patients to use other facilities until further notice but we will try and continue to see our reviews for TB and ART.  We were able to send a team for our ART and EPI outreach on Thursday after the fire and we can continue to cover that. When they announced that Chidamoyo Hospital was closed for now—people started screaming and crying.

We do not have a functioning theater until we can get electricity working again in the hospital. A vaccine fridge and a pharmacy and lab fridge have been moved to staff housing where there is electricity when Zesa is working.  It was off from 10 a.m. on the 21^st until 8 p.m. on the 22^nd.  So we hope now it will be reliable.

From the preliminary findings we feel these three buildings will have to be totally demolished and new buildings built.  This will take some time but we hope we can build a temporary kitchen and laundry facility.  We are thankful we have a new storeroom to secure things which was just finished in the last 2 months.

We are thankful to the community for their quick response to help contain the fire and for the Construction Company workers who helped so much in putting the fire out.

There was no loss of life or injury and we are thankful to God for that.  When the huge flames were coming out of the drug room and vials were exploding , I was sure someone would be hurt.  We had alcohol, ethanol and other very explosive things in that storeroom, and people were on ladders above the roof with buckets to put the huge flames out!  Not a single injury, burn or any injury—a true miracle.

Last night (Friday) we received a truck from Chinhoyi and Karoi hospitals with linen, things for the kitchen, drugs (some drugs we haven’t seen in a few months here even!).  We wanted to remodel our kitchen this year and now we can build a whole new building from scrap.  Yesterday we had people from ZACH (the organization that represents all mission hospitals in Zimbabwe), Red Cross, and Disaster Relief for our District and they have all promised to seek donations on our behalf—even from the businesses in Karoi.

A group of business people from our township showed up today to tell us since the hospital is closed their business has stopped.  They want to help to get us going because their livelihood depends on it.  Also the Kombis (vans that transport people to and from the hospital) are sitting with no work to do and they want to help.  It is amazing how our hospital supports so many other businesses!

Over and over the people said “this is our hospital for our Province and we need to get it back and running as there is no other hospital like this to help our people.”  It has been amazing to see how loved and supported we are.  Everyone up to the President’s office knows about this and all have promised to get us up and running quickly!

Many people have sent emails of encouragement to us and we thank you so much for your prayers and thoughts.  Even through this disaster so many people have helped in so many ways.

We do have some immediate expenses of hiring extra people to clear the rubble, getting things torn down and taken away to make it safe to walk under.  Also we had just bought an ox for feeding patients the day before and so lost $500 in meat and a freezer. We lost food and supplies which we have to buy now, luckily we only have a few patients to serve (today we had 7 in-patients).  We have to hire electricians to come and follow all wires and put new wiring in the rest of the hospital to get the hospital up and running again with electricity.  We have moved fridges and freezers to our houses which do have electricity, when Zesa is on, in order to keep vaccines, blood and reagents cold.  We hope to get the theater on this next week in case we have to do a C/S.  The X-ray room is on the separate circuit so we can use it.

If you would like to send a donation please send it to: Chidamoyo Christian Hospital P.O. Box 714 Sebastopol, CA  95473-0714.  Mark it for the FIRE.

Thank you for all your emails and thoughts and love.  We all feel them.  I can’t get back to each of you individually right now, but thank you to all of you for your generous support.  You are all blessings to us.

 

 

Wing on right destroyed

Drug storeroom still smoking

 

 

 Backside of wing that burnt

Charred trusses going into Admin Block

Patients on veranda of OPD

 

 

 

 

Kitchen

Entrance to kitchen

Kitchen

 

Taking care of patients outside

 

 

 

 

 

We are now solar!

Lots of projects are coming together this week and we are happy to see some completion!

First we have been busy laying down pipes from the new borehole to the water tanks up on our hill.  Working in this summer heat has been a big job for the men digging and laying the pipe—seems it is all in the sun and not in the shade.  We have also bought a new pump we will use and also have finished the pump house around the new borehole.  We are hoping this project will be done in the next month.

Then we have are happy that on Wednesday, Major went to Harare to pick up the rest of the solar equipment and brought back 2 technicians from Chinhoyi who began work on Thursday installing the 18 solar panels and wiring to make us totally solar 24/7!  No more unreliable ZESA!  We are so excited!  The technicians have been working up on our “hot tin roof” for the last few days in 110+ degree heat—right in the sun.  They are being baked!  Using solar will save us thousands of dollars a month in electricity bills and also will give us reliable energy—something we have never known here! 

We are so thankful for all the donors who gave at our Seattle fundraiser to make this a reality!  Thank you to Larry and Cheri Gail and all our Friends of Chidamoyo group.  It is fully operational today!

We are making some changes in our Laboratory.  We are remodeling one part to put in a separate room for drawing blood and then 2 rooms for Laboratory tests.  Our two blood machines which Sebastopol Rotary Club purchased for us should be arriving any day.  We are redesigning the lab to include air conditioning which is needed to keep the machines functioning well.  We will all be volunteering, in this heat, to work in the Lab.

We also received word this week that we have been picked by Ministry of Health to get a Gen X machine which is to look for multi drug resistant Tuberculosis—something becoming more common here.  They are redesigning the other room in the lab and will be putting in an air conditioner for that part of the Lab!

God is good and the hospital is progressing so we are so happy.  Thank you to all our many supporters who make it all possible.

We have been very hot and dry weather--almost 110+ degrees for the past 2 weeks.  This week there has been a "heat wave" warning for  this weekend until  Tuesday when rain is suppose to be coming. I guess the 110+ was not a heat wave!  It was 91 this morning at breakfast.

 

Solar panels go up!

  

 

Wall goes up in remodeling of the Laboratory

 

Solar panels on roof of the hospital

 

 

A container arrived

Last week on Saturday a 20 foot container sent from Sebastopol Christian Church arrived here at Chidamoyo! It had been sent in June and so we were very anxious for its arrival.

On Thursday we started to unload it.  We unload it bit by bit as we have time and bring the boxes and barrels to the hospital and put in the hallway outside my office.  Then as I have time we unload and sort through the boxes.

We  have only been able to unpack a few things but we received new printers for the office, gauze and gloves which we were desperately in need off and some foley catheters.  We will continue to work on it as we have time!

We are so thankful so many nurses, doctors and other people who save these for us.  Without these supplies we would not be able to afford them here.  Thank you for all who save for us.

Also a big thank you to Gene and Sue Beckstead who drive all over Sonoma County picking up the supplies and have their garage always full of supplies for Chidamoyo Christian Hospital.  they have to park their cars in their driveway because we keep their garage full!

We decided this year to buy a plow for our tractor and help staff and the local community  in plowing their field and then have money to buy fuel for
our generator and vehicles with the proceeds.  We have made close to $4000 in 2 weeks and we have more waiting!  Major took the tractor today to do his fields and mine.  We are so thankful for this.

Last night we had a bit of rain for a few minutes (2 mls) and of course it knocked out our electricity which just came back on Wednesday night--so here we go again waiting for them to fix it and for the next storm to knock it out!

Opening the container--Major and guys

 

 

 

 

Rain is coming!

This past week we had 2 days of  rain--17 mls and 5 mls-- so we hope this is the start of our rainy season.  Of course as soon as the wind picked up, our electricity which had been out for 10 days and came back for 5 days--died again!  It has been 4 days without and we figure they will get it fixed in time for the next storm to knock it out!  Such is life here!

We have really had a hot October.  Most days are up to 110+ and only down to low 80's at night, so without a fan when we have no electricity it is hard to sleep well.  I spent one night on the cement floor because it was cooler.

Last week we had visitors arrive on Thursday from Bulawayo to hold a meeting for 20 local teachers.  They were from Family Impact, a Christian group that teaches teachers how to promote the family and good self image in their teaching.  They did many games and exercises with the teachers to teach them new ways to use in their classrooms.  It was very fun and exciting and all went away thankful for this 2 day workshop.  We had the trainers with us for 3 nights and they left early Sunday morning to return to Bulawayo.

Our visitors from home: Wendy, Sharon, Jill and Shenina left Monday morning for Harare with Major.  They had a day to shop and then flew off on Tuesday morning to see animals in Hwange and to see Victoria Falls.   Cheryl and I will pick them up at the airport on Monday night when they return and have a day with them before they leave for the US.  We did give them a bad time that the electricity was off most of the time they were here so maybe they brought us the bad luck.

We have been fighting water problems with pumps and pipes in our boreholes breaking.  Major bought a new pump and parts and they are busy putting it all in today. This time of the year before the rains really start it is always a hard time for water as the water table is low and we use more water for drinking and to keep cool in this hot weather!

Visitors from Home

On October 12^th our visitors, Sharon, Shanena, Wendy and Jill, nurses from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in California arrived in Harare.  Dr. Kellert and I used to work at this hospital and so we were happy to welcome our friends.  Dr. Kellert went in to meet them and they spent the night at the flat in Harare and arrived here on Sunday afternoon in time for dinner.  Of course our electricity went out on the Saturday night they arrived and we never saw it again until the 22^nd of October (10 days later!).

All of the nurses are Maternity and ICN nurses in my home town and we have been planning for them to come and visit for a long time.  We put them to work in delivering babies, counting pills, getting pills ready for our ART clinic, helping with immunizations and Antenatal Clinics.  They are having a great time and were very tolerable without electricity and in our heat of summer.  All week it was 110+ degrees!

They also brought suitcases of goodies from home (even See’s candy—wow) and things to give out to patients and staff.  We really appreciate all the extra things they collected and bought and brought.  It brought a lot of happiness to all!

On Thursday the 17^th we took off for 3 nights on safari at Rhino Camp on Lake Kariba.  We had a wonderful time and saw lots of animals.  We even saw 9 lions come to drink and walk a long the shoreline.  We were so happy.  We had a choppy boat ride back to Kariba before we arrived home Sunday evening.

This week we were again busy in the hospital.  Monday just as we were going home from work we had a C/Section.  We finally got home to eat at 7:30 p.m.  Three of the ladies had gone out for Immunization clinic at 2 places and one was our baby nurse for the C/Section.  That day our borehole (the only functioning one) broke down and it was so hot and no water!  We are really making them appreciate the small conveniences in life taken for granted in the US!  I jumped into the pool before bed to cool off since we had no electricity and no fan!

Tuesday we woke up to cloudy weather and it was cool all day—only up to 85!  That is a big drop of 25 degrees and we loved it!  Today we woke up to clouds and our first rain of the season.  Of course rain brought an electricity fault but they are working on it as it is affecting Karoi too (yeah—if it involves them they work on it faster)!  The hospital work was not so busy today since people didn’t want to come out in the rain.  It was a nice break and allowed us to catch up on some office work today.

We got word that a container from Sebastopol Christian Church was on its way to us today.  We hope with the rain it won’t get stuck a long the way.  We are anxious to see the goodies it has brought.  We are so thankful to Sue and Gene Beckstead who spend hours sorting through medical equipment, packing it, storing suppliers in their garage and packing the container.  It is such a big help to us!

Cheryl, Sharon, Jill, Wendy, Shenena

Eating lunch at Rhino Camp

 

 

 

 

 On the boat to Rhino Camp

Kariba sunset--Jill, Wendy, Sharon, Shenena,Cheryl

Shenena, Sharon, Henry (our guide) Jill, Cheryl, Kathy and Wendy

 

 



 Group saying goodbye at hospital

Look at those beautiful lions!

A beautiful Kariba sunset

Busy end of September

Wow this has been a busy last half of September!  On September 15^th I left Chidamoyo at 6 a.m. to get to Harare in time to visit Marcia Kay Thomson, one of our missionaries from Masvingo who had been in the hospital for cancer surgery and had some complications.  I went to see what was going on with her and was able to get her up and walking when I visited.  Spent the next 2 days visiting her twice a day to get her up and going.  While there, friend Zebedee Togarepi came for some minor surgery and ended up 2 days in another hospital in Harare—so I ran between hospitals to visit both of them.  Both were doing much better when I had to leave Harare.

On Monday evening I met up with Dr. Ivirn Zimudzi, our doctor here from 2008-2011.  He is now a doctor in Namibia and was home visiting family for a few days.  It was great to see him and hear about his work.

On Tuesday the 17^th, Gladys Jongling and I left for Bulawayo and spent the night there and the next day (18^th) pick up fellow missionary JoAnne Martin and travelled on to Victoria Falls for an All Africa Missionary Conference at the A ‘Zambezi Lodge.  A beautiful hotel on the banks of the Zambezi River. 

This conference is held every 2 years and has been in Kenya for the last 10 or so years, so we were happy it was close to drive to.  A group from a church in Jonesboro, Arkansas came to present the program.  On Wednesday night we all went to the Boma Restaurant to eat.  The Boma has warthog steak, impala and buffalo stew, crocodile tail and Mopani worms to eat.  You get a certificate for eating the worm (really a caterpillar if that makes you feel better)!  The dinner also includes a traditional singing and dance show and a drum show that all participate in.  Eighteen of us went and it was great fun.  On Thursday evening our conference began and for the next 4 days we had wonderful sermons, lessons and great fellowship and food!  The group from the US brought us gifts and each session we met there was a wonderful gift—drink mixes, chocolate, M&Ms, books, CDs of music, USB drives, and pens, even Taco seasoning!  We were so blessed.  Over 60 missionaries and kids came from 8 African countried and then 18 from the US.  One night we did a Zambezi sunset cruise.

While there Gladys celebrated her 76^th and  I celebrated my 59^th birthday!  We always try and go somewhere in the world to celebrate and this year it was Vic Falls!

Early on Monday morning I left with 2 visitors who had come from the US to visit other missionaries in Mozambique and then came on to spend some days with me.  We left at 7:30 a.m. and drove the Binga Road home.  This is 2 hours of tar and then 8 hours on dirt.  Paul and Melonie Fudge from Orlando, FL rode with me and helped drive, which was a real blessing.  We were home by 5:30 p.m. to meet up with 2 other guests who had arrived that afternoon, Jane and Ewan Spence from Scotland.

Jane is a newly qualified midwife and they had come to visit Zimbabwe with relatives and Ewan was born here and lived here until he was 13.  So we had 4 guests and we put them all to work.  Paul did a church seminar, did devotions in the Primary and Secondary Schools and for the Msasa women and staff. He also helped me count for our month end reports.  Melanie helped count pills, shared with the Msasa women (waiting mothers) and helped speak at the church seminar.  Jane kept busy with ANC clinics, Well Baby Clinics and deliveries while Ewan helped clean up some computers and worked on a Power Point presentation we needed for a meeting on Friday.  It was so great to have them all here.  Jane and Ewan left on Friday the 27^th.

Major arrived home with no problems on the 26^th of September.  I sent Dr. Kellert in with his wife and son as Dr. Kellert left for a week of meetings in London, on the same plane Major arrived on.  Major drove himself home to the flat in Harare with his wife and son that evening when he arrived.  Then on Friday I drove in with Dr. Kajese for a meeting and finally got to welcome him home after 3 months away!  We had a joyous reunion and he talked non-stop for 2 days telling me all the highlights of who he saw and what he did!

On Friday the 27^th of September, Dr. Kajese and I were involved in a meeting with a group that wants to do a research project with one of our ART outreach centers to follow the patients with viral counts and genetic markers for medication we are using.  This is a very exciting project and something I never dreamed we would have in Zimbabwe.  This is the beginning of a 2 year project and we are very excited to be part of this program. This was our initial meeting to work out some of the details.  We hope to start the project in February 2014.

While in Harare we enjoyed the blooming of the Jacaranda trees.  September is always great to see all the trees in full bloom.  Many streets are lined with the trees.

On Saturday the 28^th of September we started our drive home with Major and family.  We had to leave some of his luggage in Harare and some of our shopping in order to all fit in the vehicle.  We stopped in Chinhoyi on the way home to attend the wedding reception of one of our staff members, a clerk, Donny Jesinaru and his bride Sandra.

We finally got home at 9:30 p.m. with Major entertaining us all the way home with his stories and exciting things he did when gone.

Paul and Melonie Fudge stayed with us until Thursday the 3^rd when they left for the US.  Dr. Kellert came back on the 4^th.  Major had a busy first week back and took Fudge’s to the airport in  Harare to leave, pick up the left luggage, and do hospital shopping—so he is back on the road again!  We hardly had time to talk but slowly we are trying to catch up.  Life is back to normal at Chidamoyo!

Donny and Sandra

 

Jacaranda Trees line the road in Harare

 

Mrs. Mereki and Groom and Bride and Major Mereki

Jacaranda Trees

 

 

Birthday!

 

Ewan and Jane Spence

Paul giving devotions with Major interpreting

Paul, Melonie and Ewen counting pills

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a fundraiser!

On September 7th Chidamoyo Christian Hospital had their big fundraiser hosted by Larry and Cheri Gail in Seattle, Washington.  This was the 2nd time for this event.  Last time they raised more than $60,000 to buy our new Jeep. This year they set the goal as $75,000.  As of last week more than $105,000 had been raised and more  was still coming in--WOW!

We hope to complete several projects at the hospital including solar power for all the hospital, painting and repairs and repairs for a vehicle that has been down for 5 months.  Our heads are still spinning from the generosity of so many people!  Did Major put magic in the sadza he cooked?  We are so excited and thank all of our wonderful supporters.

Major will be back in 1 week!  I have been waiting 10 weeks to say that!  He is exhausted and about 40 pounds heavier!  Thank you to all who helped him with transport, hosted him in your house and fed him all those extra pounds!  We so appreciate it.  Can't wait to see the pictures of all of you.

Chidamoyo High Tech and Church Conference

We have been involved through the Rotary Club in Sebastopol, CA and through the Tele Med Center at Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol, CA in a Tele Med program.  Every Wednesday at 5 p.m. we tune in via Ipad to a Continuing Education Conference put on by Dr. Gude in Sebastopol.  There are interesting case studies and we can learn a lot from these.
On Wednesday, August 21st we were able to present a clinical case here and discuss with experts there about the case and what we should do.  Dr. Kajese, Dr. Kabanzi and I sat around an Ipad and talked back and forth for 1 hour with the group in Sebastopol,CA and we could see each other.  How excited we are to be part of this project and it will benefit us in our practice to be able to talk about difficult cases.  Who could ever imagine that we could sit in the bush in Zimbabwe and talk to other doctors in CA about our patients?
Last week we received 2 new machines in our theater from a generous donation through our UK Trust.  We received a brand new Bovie (a cauterizer for stopping bleeding of blood vessels during surgery) and a new patient monitor that keeps track of the EKG, Temp, Pulse, Respiration, and Saturation of Oxygen during surgery.  Both machines have added so much to our theater and the doctors are so happy!  they actually are looking for patients to do operations on just to use the machines--so watch out!
On Thursday evening we began a church conference here at Chidamoyo with our 52 churches that we work with.  We have an annual conference each year the weekend before school starts its third term.
We had over 22 churches represented and over 300 people were fed.  The church was packed everyday and we just ended this morning with church.  They killed 1 cow and used 90 loaves of bread.  So they kept busy cooking and singing and dancing!  This is always an encouraging time for our church members.
I talked to Major yesterday and he is keep very busy and seeing a lot of old friends and meeting new ones.  He is in Seattle and the big fundraiser was last night.  They were busy preparing for it when I talked to him.
Thank you to all who have hosted and driven him many places.  Can't wait to see all the pictures of you guys.  Only 18 days until he arrives back here, but whose counting:)!

 The new monitor

The new Bovie
 



Eating time at Conference

 

Friday night service

Fellowship outside of church building

Dr. Kellert using the new Bovie--she is happy :)!